Railway-switch.



PATENTED FEB. 7, 1905.

G. E. MADBLEY.

RAILWAY SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 14, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

aftoznug witnesses No. 782,152. PATENTED FEB. 7, 1905. G. E. MADELEY.

RAILWAY SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 14, 1904.

2 SHEBTSSHBET 2.

55am: for 6. 1 M0 (2 12 l vihwsoeo M attorney UNITED STATES PatentedFebruary 7, 1905.

GEORGE E. MADELEY, OF KAUFMAN, TEXAS.

RAILWAY-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 782,152, dated.February 7, 1905.

Application filed June 14, 1904. Serial No. 212,528.

To (all who/it it may concern:

Be it known that l, GEORGE E. )laIncLuY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Kaufman, in the county of Kaufman and State of Texas, haveinvented new and useful Imp rovements in Railway-Switches, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in railway-switches;and its object is to provide means whereby the switchtongues are heldnormallyin position with the main line unbroken.

A further object is to provide means whereby the switch can be shiftedso as to direct cars upon a siding. said switch being held in suchposition by the wheels of the cars during their movement over theswitch.

Another object is to provide mechanism whereby the switch-tongues willpromptly assume their normal positions subsequent to the passage of acar or cars onto the siding.

\Vith the above and other objects in View the invention consists ofconnected switchtongues which are adapted to be moved in unison andwhich are held normally in such position as to keep the main track clearand unbroken. A guard-rail is located along the inner side of one railof the siding and adjacent switch-tongues, and this guard-rail contactswith the rail of the siding and is held thereagainst by resilient means.One end of the guard-rail contacts with one of the'switchtongues.Mechanism is provided for opening the switch so as to direct cars uponthe siding. After the firstwheel of the car contacts with the guard-railsaid rail is pressed laterally thereby and holds the switch-tongues inthe positions to which they have been adjusted manually, and thereforeit becomes unnecessary to continue holding the switch-tongues inposition by the means tirstemployed for that purpose,as the guard-railwill prevent them from moving back to their normal positions as long asone or more car-wheels are interposed between it and the adjoining railof the siding. After the lastcar-wheel has passed from between thesiding and the guard-rails the resilient devices connected totheguard-rail will return it to its normal position. and theswitchtongucs will also be returned to their normal positions by meansemployed for that-purpose. lt will thus be seen that the main line iskept open or clear at all times, except when the switch-tongues areshifted manually. It is unnecessary to readjust the switch-tongues aftera car has passed on the siding, as they will automatically assume theirnormal posi' tions thereafter.

The invention also consists of the further novel construction andcombination of parts hereinafter more fully described and claimed, andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, showing the preferred form ofmy in vention, and in which Figure 1 is a plan view of a switchconstructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a section on line2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on line 3 3, Fig. 1. Fig. 4:is a plan view of one of the casings of the rail-operating devices, therails being detached therefrom. Fig. 5 is a section on line 5 Fig. 4E;and Fig. (5 is a plan view of the switch-operating rod.

Referring to the figures by numerals of reference, 1 and 2 are the railsof the main track of a railway, and. 3 and t are the rails of thesiding, rail & being merged into the main rail 2, as ordinarily. Aswitch-tongue 5 is pivoted to one end of rail 3, and a switch-tongue 6is pivoted to rail Qand is adapted to normally contact with rail *1: andclose the siding, thereby forming an unbroken main track. The tongues 5and 6 are connected adjacent their free ends by means of a rod 7, havinga slot 8 in one end, in which is mounted a pin 9, which extends throughthe forked end 10 of a pitman 11. This pitman is mounted upon the crank12 of a shaft l3. revolubly mounted within a frame 1%. An arm is securedto the shaft 13 and extends therefrom at right angles, and this framehas a lever 16 pivoted thereto, which is adapted tobe swung intoengagement with the periphery of the top plate 17 of frame Li, therebylocking the shaft 13 against rotation. A casing 18 is located under therail t and under and adjacent the free end of tongue (5. This casing hasa sliding cover 19, which is provided with guide-rods 20 upon its lowerface to prevent lateral movement. A lug 21 extends downward from cover19, and one end of a coiled spring 22 is bolted thereto, while the otherend thereof is bolted to one end of casing 18. This spring 22 serves tohold the sliding cover normally in contact with an immovable or integralcoversection 23, which extends partly over the casing 18. edge of thefixed cover portion 23, and a similar flange 25 is located at the outeredge of the sliding cover 19. Apertures 26 are formed within the fixedcover 23 for the reception of bolts 27, which are adapted to extendthrough the base-flanges of rail 4, and apertures 28 are formed insliding cover 19 for the reception of bolts 29,which are adapted toengage the base-flanges of the switch-tongue 6.

A guard-rail 30 of suitable length is arranged along the inner face ofrail 4 and has outwardly-curved ends, one of which normally contactswith the tongue 6 at a point removed some distance from its pivot.Arranged under this guard-rail 30 and the rail 4 are a desired number ofcasings 31, each of which is similar to the casing 8, before described,and has a spring therein which is secured at one end tov a sliding coversimilar to the cover 19 and on which the guard-rail 30 is secured. Itwill be understood that all of the springs in the casings 18 and 31serve to hold the spring-tongue 6 and the guard-rail 3O normally incontact with the rail 4.

When it is desired to open a switch, so as to direct cars onto thesiding when operating the switch in the direction of the arrow in Fig.1, the lever 16 is raised, and arm 15 is turned by means thereof, so asto press the tongues 6 and 5 laterally and in unison, tongue 5 movinginto contact with rail 1. This will cause the spring 22 to becometensioned. The cars will thus move onto the rails 3 and 4, and theflanges of the wheels thereof will pass between rail 4 and guard-rail30, thereby tensioning the springs within the casings 31 and moving theguard-rail 3O laterally and into contact with the tongue 6, which, asabove stated, has been subsequently swung laterally away from rail 4.The lever 16 and arm 15 can then be released; but the tongues 5 and 6will not return to their normal positions as long as the flange of anyone car-wheel is interposed between rail 4 and guard-rail 30. It willthus be seen that the switch will be held in its adjusted position untilthe last wheel of the train has passed onto the siding and from betweenthe rail 4 and guard-rail 30. Subsequent to this operation all of thesprings within the casings 18 and 22 will contract automatically andwill draw the tongues 5 and 6 backward to their normal positions andwill clamp the guard-rail 30 against rail 4. It thus becomes unnecessaryto return the parts to their normal positions manually, and thereforethe main line is kept open at all times, except during the actualoperation of a car or cars passing onto a siding. When a A flange 24 islocated at the outer train approaches the main line from the siding, theflanges of the wheels will first pass between rail 4 and guard-rail 30,and said guard-rail will (as is obvious) force the switchtongues 6 and 5laterally, with tongue 5 in contact with rail 1. This operation ispermitted in view of the fact that rod 7 has the slot 8 therein.

By referring to Fig. 3 it will be seen that the sliding cover 19 isretained against displacement by one of the flanges of rail 4, whichextends thereover. The same is true also of the sliding covers of casing31.

In the foregoing description I have shown the preferred form of myinvention; but I do not limit myself thereto, as I am aware thatmodifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit orsacrificing any of the advantages thereof, and I therefore reserve theright to make such changes as fairly fall within the scope of myinvention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1. In aswitch, the combination with the rails of a main line and the rails of asiding; of a tongue for directing cars from the main line to the siding,resilient means for holding the tongue normally in contact with a railof the main line, and means separate from the tongue adapted to beengaged by the flanges of car-wheels for holding the tongue removed fromthe rail of the main line continuously during the passage of a trainonto the siding.

2. The combination with the rails of a main line and the rails of asiding; of a switch-tongue normally closing the siding, a guard-railnormally contacting with the switch-tongue, and resilient means forholding the guard-rail normally in contact with the inner face of a railof the siding.

3. The combination with the rails of a main line and the rails of asiding; of a switch-tongue adapted to close the siding, alaterally-movable guard-rail normally contacting with the switch-tongue,and resilient means for holding the guard-rail normally in contact withthe inner face of one rail of the siding.

4. The combination with the rails ofamain line and the rails of asiding; of a switch-tongue adapted to close the siding, alaterally-movable guard-rail normally contacting with the switch-tongue,and a spring for holding the guard-rail normally in contact with theinner face of one rail of the siding.

5. The combination with the rails of amain line and the rails of asiding; of a switch-tongue normally closing the siding, alaterally-movable guard-rail normally contacting with the tongue,casings thereunder, sliding covers upon the casings and connected to theguardrails, and springs connected to the casings and sliding covers,respectively, to hold the guardrail normally in contact with a rail ofthe siding.

6. The combination with the rails of a main ICC line and the rails of asiding; ofa switch-tongue normally closing the siding, a casing undersaid tongue and one rail of the siding, a laterally-movable guard-railnormally contacting with the tongue, casings thereunder, slidable coverssecured to the tongue and to the guardrail, respectively, and mounted onthe easings,and springs rigidly secured at one end and connected to theslidable covers whereby the tongue is held in normal position and theguard rail is normally held in Contact With one face of a rail of thesiding.

'7. The combination with the rails of a main line and the rails of asiding; of switch-tongues normally closing the siding, a slotted rodconneeting the tongues, mechanism connected to the rod for operating thetongues manually, a

laterally-movable guard-rail normally contacting with one of thes\vitch-tongues,and resilient means for holding the tongues in theirnormal positions and for holding the guardrail normally in contact withthe inner face of one rail of the siding.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE E. MADELEY.

Witnesses:

M. O. SrIKns, WVooD NASH.

